Name: Lou Xia Age: 17 Gender: Female Occupation: high school student Social Class: daughter of a middle class family Financial situation: Her parents have enough money to send her to school for high-qualified education and to enjoy some luxurious food from time to time. Appearance: She has small eyes, small nose, dark face, long hair, and a slender body. She is short compared to her friends: 148 cm. Location: Nanjing (http://splashman.phoenix.wikispaces.net/Map+of+Nanjing) Habitual locations: She lives in a small apartment in Jiangsu, China with her family. Daily routine: Wakes up at 7 am, leaves to school at 7:50, has classes until 3:00, comes back home at 3:30, helps mother do chores, has dinner at 6:00, does homework until 8:30, spends time with her family until 19:30, sleeps at 10:00 pm. Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: She is out-going and lively, although she can be shy when first meeting people. She has a red mole on her left hand. She is a caring, compassionate 14-year-old who is mature enough to take care of others. Past/individual-family history: Her grandparents are still alive; they live about 15 minutes away from her house on Jian Hwa Road. Lou Xia's little brother died of leukemia when she was 8 years old. Family: Lou Xia, her father, and her mother live together. Her older sister Ling Jian is living in Beijing with her cousins for education. Social relations with your own and other classes: TBD Religion: Buddhist Education: middle school Portrait: Photo from http://ingridkaslik.com/blog/photo-restoration.
Diary # I: Calm Before the Storm
My family picture about 7 years ago
July 7th, 1937
Dear Diary Coco,
Today I got out of school earlier than usual with the news that the Japanese have officially claimed war on our country. People in the streets seemed to be disturbed by the news, but no stores closed down and everything stayed quite the same. I guess the news has not made people feel afraid of anything yet because the war and its realities seem so vague and abstract - far away from our own little world, our own dimension of life. The village I live in has always been peaceful throughout the decades, and it almost sounds like a nonsense every time I imagine that there will be something totally unprecedented happening in this place.
When I got back home, my mother was silently cooking lunch for me. When I asked her why she is not like her usual self today, she replied that the nightmare she had last night was extremely accurate - there is going to be a bloody war against Japan, after all. I wasn't surprised by her silence throughout the whole day.
Coco, I honestly do not know how to react to this situation. Since I only read about wars in my history textbook, the idea of war itself does not struck me significantly in any way. Of course I know that any war can be destructive and make everyone's life miserable… But would that also pertain to my life, too? I can hardly imagine my peaceful life being disrupted by any kind of event. Although I don't know what there is to come, I want everything to be just a dream. A dream.
When my dad came back home from work, I could see that his face was pale and anxiety-stricken. He immediately held out the newspaper and was absorbed in obtaining information about the upcoming war. "Lou Xia," he said after a long silence. "We might get in a huge trouble... Everything will be different now." But I still wonder: What would possibly change in this little village?
I could not write for a while. In fact, I really didn't feel like recording all the miserable events that have happened last month. Things have changed... so much. When we heard the news that the Japanese army was attacking this very city Nanjing, a lot of people evacuated their houses and moved to somewhere else. But many families, including ours, did not fully trust the news and stayed where we were. We thought Japan won't find such a small village as ours since it is located far south of Nanjing.
But alas, we couldn't have been more wrong. The Japanese troops did come all the way into our village and started burning houses and shooting innocent civilians. When there was a loud noise outside, my mother quickly snatched my hands and ran. There was no time whatsoever to bring food or clothes. Two Japanese soldiers chased after us (I'm so thankful that they didn't shoot us right away.) but we managed to escape. Where can we possibly plead our innocence? What have we done wrong to be witnesses of such a horrifying experience? Since that day, I have not yet seen my father.
My mother and I hid in the tiny, nearby cave that is located on top of the hill. We can view the whole city from here... but I wish we were not able to. From what I saw, I realized that there was virtually no one left to protect the citizens of our city. The Japanese poured into our city, occupying government buildings, banks, and schools, shooting people randomly in the streets. Using machine guns, revolvers, and rifles, the Japanese fired at the crowds of civilians - even elderly women and young children. They killed everyone in those tiny roads, major boulevards, city squares, everywhere! As people toppled to the ground, moaning and screaming, the streets and alleys ran rivers of blood, much of it coming from people who were alive but had no strength left to run away...
And that is not the end. The Japanese systematically killed the city dwellers as they conducted house-to-house searches for Chinese soldiers in the city and even in the nearby countryside. Corpses piled up outside the city walls and along the river. Blood spattered everywhere... and the chilling atmosphere made my hair stand on end and limbs tremble with fear. I was at a total loss and did not know what to do in that small cave. It is very likely that we will be found in a few days, since we have no food with us to sustain our lives. I will probably go out at midnight to look for some edible plants on the hill.
Ah, just now, a woman came into our cave... I wonder how she found this place? It was only known among our family members. But she brought some shocking news. More Japanese soldiers are coming in with thousands of Chinese soldiers and women! They are all under General Matsui Iwane's control, obeying every single one of his commands, no matter how brutal they might be. Oh, miserable, miserable life! Coco, I do not know whether I would be able to survive this situation with my beloved mother even for another day...
Japanese soliders escort Chinese prisoners to shoot them in one place.
December 17th, 1937
Dear Diary Coco,
At last, we were captured in 4 days. A bunch of Japanese soldiers woke us up in the afternoon while we were taking a nap. I was horrified when we saw those soldiers holding guns and pointing at us. What is our general soldiers' commander Tang Sheng-Chih doing? Has all the soldiers surrendered already..?
My mother and I were moved to a refugee camp about an hour away from our village. The place where I am staying right now is near Mufu Mountain. We were stripped of everything but our clothes and blankets, and were escorted to a raw of straw-roofed temporary buildings.
Coco, I have nightmares almost every night. The chaotic scenes of the Japanese soldiers killing my neighbors are constantly haunting me. I hear gunshots resonating in the air almost everyday, and they somehow never cease. Because I thought there was no war occurring near our refugee camp, I asked around a few old women about the noise. Then I heard the most shocking news... The soldiers were shooting down every Chinese man they have captured in order to get rid of the possibility that the Chinese may scheme a rebellion all together, take over the camp, and rule out the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese generals are ordering their soldiers to line up all the refugees and kill them one by one... I heard that they all walked like ants crawling on the ground, ready to be crushed. Our prisoners were divided into four columns and stood at the riverbank until the Japanese soldiers shot every single one of them! Now that I think of it, is it possible that my father had already been shot by the Japanese..? Dear Buddha, have mercy on us!
And there are rumors that the Japanese are going to gather all the women and young children at one place tomorrow. Would they just kill all of us, just like they did to Chinese men today? I can feel a sense of impending death hovering over my mind -
Sister, I do not know where you are as of now. Is Beijing safe? Is it only Nanjing that is suffering from horror? I'm not even sure if you can see this letter... I wish with all my heart that you're safe, at least. It is enough for the two of us to be in danger... The sad news is that we do not know whether our father is alive or not. We're living in a separate camp, and the last time I saw my father was a few months ago at home. Will you please pray for us every night? Pray to Buddha for our safety and his...
Lou Jia, I am actually too shocked to tell you anything that happened to me and mother yesterday. My hands are trembling right now... and I'm afraid I can express my feelings properly. Even right now I hear the sounds of firearms mingled with desperate yelling and screams... Yesterday, all the women (including elderly and even 6 or 7-year-olds) were gathered in the field and some Japanese soldiers came and took each one of us. Lou Jia, you will never understand the overwhelming horror I felt. My mother and I were separated, of course. One Japanese soldier named Mukai Toshiaki came to me and grabbed my arms. He did not talk to me or ask my name at all. He brought me to a small room in the camp and finally opened his mouth. He said, "Let's see you open up your legs." I was humiliated. I wanted to scream and slap him. I wanted to spit on his face. But what could I do? I knew I would be shot immediately if I did anything like that. Since I was not wearing underpants and wore trousers tied with a string instead, he pulled the string and my buttocks were exposed. I was breathing hard. The soldier took off his pants and...
Lou Jia, I don't want to give you any details. I... I don't want to recall the memories all over again. I was raped by six high-rank generals and two soldiers in total yesterday because a group of men crowded into that small room shouting "She's a virgin, huh? Let us see!"
I guess I need to be thankful that they did not kill me - yet. About 40 women were killed after the raping session for today... and now I do not know whether my mother is alive. Lou Jia, although my life cannot be more miserable, I hope you're living a happy life - You're our family's only light.
It has been almost 9 years since the tragic Nanjing Incident first occurred. And I, surprisingly enough, am one of the few survivors. My father and mother both turned out to have been killed in the same year...
Today I met one of the survivors named Wilhelmina Vautrin, an American missionary who visited China once again. And we had a long talk about the same experience we had... We shared almost everything about the incident, and that is why I was inspired to write in this diary in a million years.
Coco, as much as 300,000 people were slaughtered by the invading Japanese soldiers. In addition to mass slaughters of our Chinese soldiers, they indiscriminately included civilians in these mass slaughters. The “invasion” of Japan into China wasn’t an official war, and therefore the soldiers who surrendered were not protected under international treaties with regards to captives. But really, is that justification for hauling out all the innocent people in a town and bayoneting them into the Yangtze River? Were the four year-old civilian boys also suspected of being soldiers?
And yes, thousands of women in Nanjing were raped... including myself. They raped the ugly, the pretty, the old, and the young, all the same. They cut off the vaginas of some women or pierced their pelvic area with a bayonet. The Japanese soldiers were no longer acting like soldiers... but ultimate beasts.
There’s more. The entire city of Nanjing was looted and burned for days, weeks, or even months. There are a few nearby cities that burned for so long that nothing remained whatsoever except the bodies of the dead. The burnings were to hide the evidence of the mass slaughters and other atrocities that took place. Meanwhile, Japanese newspapers were heavily censored and no real images from Nanjing ever reached the public. Instead, Japanese newspapers said that Nanjing was a peaceful and even calm place. To this day, the Japanese government claims that the Nanjing Massacre never happened and it is left out of Japanese textbooks. This is ridiculous.
A few years after the incident was over, I remember reading a newspaper that only one Japanese general was given the death sentence as a war criminal. One. The Nanjing Massacre was not a genocide, for the soldiers were not killing because of some higher belief. But it was completely and utterly senseless; there was no purpose, no excuse they could even give themselves to appease their conscience. How do you go from being a responsible husband, for example, to a killing and raping animal? The Nanjing Massacre was inhumane to the infinite degree, but to this day, the event isn’t even acknowledged, much less apologized for. The Nanjing Massacre can never be forgiven or forgotten... ever.
Name: Lou Xia
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Occupation: high school student
Social Class: daughter of a middle class family
Financial situation:
Her parents have enough money to send her to school for high-qualified education and to enjoy some luxurious food from time to time.
Appearance: She has small eyes, small nose, dark face, long hair, and a slender body. She is short compared to her friends: 148 cm.
Location: Nanjing (http://splashman.phoenix.wikispaces.net/Map+of+Nanjing)
Habitual locations: She lives in a small apartment in Jiangsu, China with her family.
Daily routine:
Wakes up at 7 am, leaves to school at 7:50, has classes until 3:00, comes back home at 3:30, helps mother do chores,
has dinner at 6:00, does homework until 8:30, spends time with her family until 19:30, sleeps at 10:00 pm.
Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits: She is out-going and lively, although she can be shy when first meeting people.
She has a red mole on her left hand. She is a caring, compassionate 14-year-old who is mature enough to take care of others.
Past/individual-family history: Her grandparents are still alive; they live about 15 minutes away from her house on Jian Hwa Road.
Lou Xia's little brother died of leukemia when she was 8 years old.
Family: Lou Xia, her father, and her mother live together. Her older sister Ling Jian is living in Beijing with her cousins for education.
Social relations with your own and other classes: TBD
Religion: Buddhist
Education: middle school
Portrait: Photo from http://ingridkaslik.com/blog/photo-restoration.
Diary # I: Calm Before the Storm
July 7th, 1937
Dear Diary Coco,
Today I got out of school earlier than usual with the news that the Japanese have officially claimed war on our country. People in the streets seemed to be disturbed by the news, but no stores closed down and everything stayed quite the same. I guess the news has not made people feel afraid of anything yet because the war and its realities seem so vague and abstract - far away from our own little world, our own dimension of life. The village I live in has always been peaceful throughout the decades, and it almost sounds like a nonsense every time I imagine that there will be something totally unprecedented happening in this place.
When I got back home, my mother was silently cooking lunch for me. When I asked her why she is not like her usual self today, she replied that the nightmare she had last night was extremely accurate - there is going to be a bloody war against Japan, after all. I wasn't surprised by her silence throughout the whole day.
Coco, I honestly do not know how to react to this situation. Since I only read about wars in my history textbook, the idea of war itself does not struck me significantly in any way. Of course I know that any war can be destructive and make everyone's life miserable… But would that also pertain to my life, too? I can hardly imagine my peaceful life being disrupted by any kind of event. Although I don't know what there is to come, I want everything to be just a dream. A dream.
When my dad came back home from work, I could see that his face was pale and anxiety-stricken. He immediately held out the newspaper and was absorbed in obtaining information about the upcoming war. "Lou Xia," he said after a long silence. "We might get in a huge trouble... Everything will be different now." But I still wonder: What would possibly change in this little village?
Photo: http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt2q2nc38c/?brand=calisphere
Diary # II: A Knock at The Gate
December 13th, 1937
Dear Diary Coco,
I could not write for a while. In fact, I really didn't feel like recording all the miserable events that have happened last month. Things have changed... so much.
When we heard the news that the Japanese army was attacking this very city Nanjing, a lot of people evacuated their houses and moved to somewhere else. But many families, including ours, did not fully trust the news and stayed where we were. We thought Japan won't find such a small village as ours since it is located far south of Nanjing.
But alas, we couldn't have been more wrong. The Japanese troops did come all the way into our village and started burning houses and shooting innocent civilians. When there was a loud noise outside, my mother quickly snatched my hands and ran. There was no time whatsoever to bring food or clothes. Two Japanese soldiers chased after us (I'm so thankful that they didn't shoot us right away.) but we managed to escape. Where can we possibly plead our innocence? What have we done wrong to be witnesses of such a horrifying experience? Since that day, I have not yet seen my father.
My mother and I hid in the tiny, nearby cave that is located on top of the hill. We can view the whole city from here... but I wish we were not able to. From what I saw, I realized that there was virtually no one left to protect the citizens of our city. The Japanese poured into our city, occupying government buildings, banks, and schools, shooting people randomly in the streets. Using machine guns, revolvers, and rifles, the Japanese fired at the crowds of civilians - even elderly women and young children. They killed everyone in those tiny roads, major boulevards, city squares, everywhere! As people toppled to the ground, moaning and screaming, the streets and alleys ran rivers of blood, much of it coming from people who were alive but had no strength left to run away...
And that is not the end. The Japanese systematically killed the city dwellers as they conducted house-to-house searches for Chinese soldiers in the city and even in the nearby countryside. Corpses piled up outside the city walls and along the river. Blood spattered everywhere... and the chilling atmosphere made my hair stand on end and limbs tremble with fear. I was at a total loss and did not know what to do in that small cave. It is very likely that we will be found in a few days, since we have no food with us to sustain our lives. I will probably go out at midnight to look for some edible plants on the hill.
Ah, just now, a woman came into our cave... I wonder how she found this place? It was only known among our family members. But she brought some shocking news. More Japanese soldiers are coming in with thousands of Chinese soldiers and women! They are all under General Matsui Iwane's control, obeying every single one of his commands, no matter how brutal they might be. Oh, miserable, miserable life! Coco, I do not know whether I would be able to survive this situation with my beloved mother even for another day...
Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iwane_Matsui_rides_into_Nanjing.jpg
Diary # 3: The Gates Come Tumbling Down
December 17th, 1937
Dear Diary Coco,
At last, we were captured in 4 days. A bunch of Japanese soldiers woke us up in the afternoon while we were taking a nap. I was horrified when we saw those soldiers holding guns and pointing at us. What is our general soldiers' commander Tang Sheng-Chih doing? Has all the soldiers surrendered already..?
My mother and I were moved to a refugee camp about an hour away from our village. The place where I am staying right now is near Mufu Mountain. We were stripped of everything but our clothes and blankets, and were escorted to a raw of straw-roofed temporary buildings.
Coco, I have nightmares almost every night. The chaotic scenes of the Japanese soldiers killing my neighbors are constantly haunting me. I hear gunshots resonating in the air almost everyday, and they somehow never cease. Because I thought there was no war occurring near our refugee camp, I asked around a few old women about the noise. Then I heard the most shocking news... The soldiers were shooting down every Chinese man they have captured in order to get rid of the possibility that the Chinese may scheme a rebellion all together, take over the camp, and rule out the Japanese soldiers. The Japanese generals are ordering their soldiers to line up all the refugees and kill them one by one... I heard that they all walked like ants crawling on the ground, ready to be crushed. Our prisoners were divided into four columns and stood at the riverbank until the Japanese soldiers shot every single one of them! Now that I think of it, is it possible that my father had already been shot by the Japanese..? Dear Buddha, have mercy on us!
And there are rumors that the Japanese are going to gather all the women and young children at one place tomorrow. Would they just kill all of us, just like they did to Chinese men today? I can feel a sense of impending death hovering over my mind -
Photo from: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/22/content_2864395_5.htm
Diary # 4: Through the Gates into Hell
Dear Lou Jia,
Sister, I do not know where you are as of now. Is Beijing safe? Is it only Nanjing that is suffering from horror?
I'm not even sure if you can see this letter... I wish with all my heart that you're safe, at least. It is enough for the two of us to be in danger...
The sad news is that we do not know whether our father is alive or not. We're living in a separate camp, and the last time I saw my father was a few months ago at home. Will you please pray for us every night? Pray to Buddha for our safety and his...
Lou Jia, I am actually too shocked to tell you anything that happened to me and mother yesterday. My hands are trembling right now... and I'm afraid I can express my feelings properly. Even right now I hear the sounds of firearms mingled with desperate yelling and screams...
Yesterday, all the women (including elderly and even 6 or 7-year-olds) were gathered in the field and some Japanese soldiers came and took each one of us. Lou Jia, you will never understand the overwhelming horror I felt. My mother and I were separated, of course. One Japanese soldier named Mukai Toshiaki came to me and grabbed my arms. He did not talk to me or ask my name at all. He brought me to a small room in the camp and finally opened his mouth. He said, "Let's see you open up your legs." I was humiliated. I wanted to scream and slap him. I wanted to spit on his face. But what could I do? I knew I would be shot immediately if I did anything like that. Since I was not wearing underpants and wore trousers tied with a string instead, he pulled the string and my buttocks were exposed. I was breathing hard. The soldier took off his pants and...
Lou Jia, I don't want to give you any details. I... I don't want to recall the memories all over again. I was raped by six high-rank generals and two soldiers in total yesterday because a group of men crowded into that small room shouting "She's a virgin, huh? Let us see!"
I guess I need to be thankful that they did not kill me - yet. About 40 women were killed after the raping session for today... and now I do not know whether my mother is alive. Lou Jia, although my life cannot be more miserable, I hope you're living a happy life - You're our family's only light.
With Fading Hope,
December 18th, 1937
Your Little Sister, Lou Xia
Photo from: http://yuhendrablog.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/criminal-file-rape-of-nanjing-war-version-i/japold1/
Diary # 5: A Survivor
April 2nd, 1946
Dear Diary Coco,
It has been almost 9 years since the tragic Nanjing Incident first occurred. And I, surprisingly enough, am one of the few survivors. My father and mother both turned out to have been killed in the same year...
Today I met one of the survivors named Wilhelmina Vautrin, an American missionary who visited China once again. And we had a long talk about the same experience we had... We shared almost everything about the incident, and that is why I was inspired to write in this diary in a million years.
Coco, as much as 300,000 people were slaughtered by the invading Japanese soldiers. In addition to mass slaughters of our Chinese soldiers, they indiscriminately included civilians in these mass slaughters. The “invasion” of Japan into China wasn’t an official war, and therefore the soldiers who surrendered were not protected under international treaties with regards to captives. But really, is that justification for hauling out all the innocent people in a town and bayoneting them into the Yangtze River? Were the four year-old civilian boys also suspected of being soldiers?
And yes, thousands of women in Nanjing were raped... including myself. They raped the ugly, the pretty, the old, and the young, all the same. They cut off the vaginas of some women or pierced their pelvic area with a bayonet. The Japanese soldiers were no longer acting like soldiers... but ultimate beasts.
There’s more. The entire city of Nanjing was looted and burned for days, weeks, or even months. There are a few nearby cities that burned for so long that nothing remained whatsoever except the bodies of the dead. The burnings were to hide the evidence of the mass slaughters and other atrocities that took place. Meanwhile, Japanese newspapers were heavily censored and no real images from Nanjing ever reached the public. Instead, Japanese newspapers said that Nanjing was a peaceful and even calm place. To this day, the Japanese government claims that the Nanjing Massacre never happened and it is left out of Japanese textbooks. This is ridiculous.
A few years after the incident was over, I remember reading a newspaper that only one Japanese general was given the death sentence as a war criminal. One. The Nanjing Massacre was not a genocide, for the soldiers were not killing because of some higher belief. But it was completely and utterly senseless; there was no purpose, no excuse they could even give themselves to appease their conscience. How do you go from being a responsible husband, for example, to a killing and raping animal? The Nanjing Massacre was inhumane to the infinite degree, but to this day, the event isn’t even acknowledged, much less apologized for. The Nanjing Massacre can never be forgiven or forgotten... ever.
Photo from: http://www.girlandcity.com/2010/08/the-rape-of-nanjing/